Hey guys, I just got a Wii U and already own a 3DS XL. There are many VC games that are available for both platforms (mostly NES for now) — which platform do you recommend playing VC games on, or is the experience virtually identical?

The only thing that I can think of is that if I play the same NES VC games on the Wii U, then I can enjoy it on the big screen TV as opposed to the smallish 3DS XL screen. However, how would you compare playing NES VC games on the Wii U's GamePad vs. the 3DS XL?

Now if I didn't have to pay a second time just to play the same NES VC games on the Wii U, then I wouldn't even have to ask this question .

I always play console games on Wii U VC(NES, SNES, N64, etc.), and portable games on 3DS XL(GB, GBC, GBA, etc.). If they were sharable between both, I would probably mix and match, but that's how I buy them.

I have the ambassador games on 3DS XL, so any of the NES ones I have on their I won't buy, since there's no point in buying stuff twice, IMO.

EDIT: Also, only 3D enabled games are the only ones I might consider buying for 3DS, because 3D.

if you have a nice HD-tv and enough money to get the slightly more expenisve console and games for wiiU then i would say go for the wiiU. even though it still lacks games i could get at least 3 that i would love to play and that should be enough for a year lol

the biggest argument for the 3DS are the games. it has so many gems!
i have all the ambassador games (10NES and 10 gba) on my launch 3DS. there is no problem with playing them on the small screen. they have a very low resolution so there is no need to play them on a big screen i think

Hi guys, thanks for all your replies. To clarify, I don't actually own any VC games on either platform at the moment, but I'm thinking about jumping in because I want to replay all the 8/16-bit games I missed as a kid. I'm just starting out on the Wii U (I literally just set it up on the day I posted this question), so I don't know what my usage patterns will be like; however, in my current situation I don't have access to a TV (I did the initial sync using the TV at work), so I will be playing the Wii U from the GamePad for the time being. Next May I will be moving into my own flat, so I will have a big screen TV then .

Wow, if you are serious about having to use B/A instead of Y/B to run/jump in SMB on 3DS VC, then that is reason enough for me to get the Wii U version instead.

For those that have played the same NES game on both Wii U GamePad and 3DS, do you notice any difference in terms of the emulation quality? For example, is the sound, color, or framerate better on one vs. the other? Is there more noticable tearing on the GamePad screen vs. 3DS screen?

Would've saved all these hassles and compromises in the years since when games for 2 button Nintendo platforms are played on a more modern 4 face button Nintendo system.

Yeah, it all started when they decided to rotate the layout ~45 degrees. If I was able to finish SMB as a little kid on the original NES controller without getting injured, then the horizontal BA button layout couldn't have been that bad. I can only guess they rotated it when adding YX (instead of adding another horizontal row) in the name of ergonomics. Maybe if they had a crystal ball then and realized that generations later the button rotation would come back and bite all the retrogamers in the donkey they would've just added another row without rotating, huh .

I'm still hanging onto hope that one day (soon) Nintendo would wise up and release a firmware update for the 3DS that would add button remapping. Nintendo, are you listening??